Caleb's First Birthday Party

Caleb, you had a monkey-themed party for your first birthday party. We figured this was fitting because you certainly are our "little monkey", constantly climbing onto and into everything you possibly can.

We had your party a few days late, but on the morning of your actual birthday, you woke up to 12 balloons lying on the floor in the living room. You think balloons are balls and immediately started saying, "Ba ba ba" when you saw them. You were so excited. Later that day, your daddy and I took you to Walmart to pick out a present. You picked a fairly small orange rubber truck, which you still love to play with.

Here was your party invitation (with all personal info changed):



After your daddy prayed for your life and for the food, everyone dug in. The food was simple--hot dogs, chips, monkey bread and cake. I made the birthday cake that you ate in the shape of a monkey head with chocolate frosting and banana cake.

The Cautherns were so sweet to host this special event in their back yard. There were yard games (Ladder Golf, Washers and Croquet) for the older kids and adults and an inflatable pool filled with balls for the younger kids. (I must confess that I copied this idea from my friend, Kristi, who also did this for her son's birthday party.) You LOVE balls and were so excited to be surrounded by them.














After everyone ate, you got to experience your first birthday cake. To be honest, it was a little anti-climatic. Your daddy and I were half expecting you to dive in head first, not taking much of a break to breath. You, however, were very methodical and actually pretty neat as you ate. At one point, you did put your face in the cake, but I think it was only after your daddy prompted you to. You seemed to enjoy your sweet treat, but were pretty interested in the blow-up monkey that was sitting next to you too.

It took you so long to eat your cake that we ended up opening your presents another day.

It was a very special day, and we were grateful to celebrate your life with some of our family and so many new friends. We love you, little one!

Great Offer!

I’m not sure how familiar people are with Shutterfly, but I’m a big Shutterfly fan. I’ve used this website regularly to send out monthly pictures of Caleb. In the process, I’ve discovered many of the great promotions that Shutterfly does. They’ll often offer free prints, free shipping or even big discounts on their many products.

For Christmas this year, they’re doing a promotion where if you write a blog post about Shutterfly, you get 50 free Christmas cards! How great is that!? What a great way to save money during a more expensive time of year! Click here to find out more about it.

I haven’t even begun to think about Christmas (or even Thanksgiving for that matter : ) ), but as I looked through the Shutterfly website, I found these great cards.

I love the different color schemes and particularly love the option to put more than one picture on your Christmas card. Plus, there are so many great designs to choose from!

They also have really cute birth announcements that maybe we’ll use next time around.

Shutterfly also carries a variety of products from stationery to calendars to these Christmas ornaments.

I hope this offer and these ideas can help someone else too!

Two More Teeth

I have so much blogging to catch up on, but since this is short and easy, we'll post today's big news:

-Caleb had two teeth break through today (second bottom right one and second top left one)

-He was diagnosed with his first ear infection (left side) and will therefore be starting his first round of antibiotics :(

I was shocked to find out Caleb had an ear infection. He had been more clingy than normal but hasn't really been fussing much. I guess that's the (very small) downside to having such a happy baby.

Happy Monday from Graham!

Never Mind...It's Official

I wrote a post this morning asking at what point you would consider your baby to be officially walking. Well, Caleb is now officially walking all over the place. Before today, Caleb's record number of consecutive steps was 10, but now it's somewhere between 30 and 40. He's so proud of himself (as are we) and is loving his new trick.

When is it Official?

During a discussion about babies walking a couple months ago, a friend of ours mentioned that we would need to determine what, in our opinions, would constitute Caleb as "walking". At that point, Caleb had only taken 1 step a couple of times, so we didn't give it much thought. A few days after that conversation, though, Caleb took 5 steps. (This was five days after his first birthday.) Then he waited a couple weeks before he did it again. Over the last few weeks, he's added several more steps to his attempts at walking. His most recent accomplishment has been 10 steps, which he's done a couple of times.

As I thought about his accomplishment yesterday, it hit me that 10 steps is a lot, and it got me to thinking, "When is it official?" Though he's taken 10 steps twice now, it's not like he's always trying to walk because he definitely crawls the majority of the time. So I'd love your opinions, when do you think you would say a baby is walking?

1 Year!

*I'm sorry this blog post is more than a month late this time!


At the beginning of this month you started sticking your tongue out and saying, "Num num" when you're hungry or when you see your bottle. I'm not sure where you got "Num num", but it's cute. How nice it is that you're starting to be able to communicate with us more.

I finished weaning you at the beginning of this month, and thankfully you didn't have any problems with it.

You eat pretty much anything I give you--cantaloupe, bananas, grapes, watermelon, tomatoes, black olives, onions, green bell peppers, corn, peas, green beans, rice, beans, etc. The only thing you don't always seem to want is lettuce. I'm thankful that you're not a picky eater, and I pray this trend continues!


























You continually prove to be a little monkey, which is why you had a monkey-theme birthday party. You like to crawl and sit inside drawers, on top of tables, chairs--anything at all that you can reach, and you LOVE climbing stairs.

You took your first step this month. It was just one and it was a few weeks before you decided to do it again (2 days after your first birthday). I've been thinking for months now that you were going to take off walking. This was partly because you've been standing so well for so long and have good balance and are really good and quick at cruising around on the furniture. You'll even dance and squat up and down while standing, but you're just not terribly interested in walking on your own yet. One day, it will come, I know, but for now, I'm thankful to carry you. I know it won't be too long before you'll want to "do it on your own".

You did receive your first battle wounds this month, but you weren't even climbing or anything. Somehow you lost your balance while standing near a metal chair and smacked your face on it. This is not a good picture of you, but you can somewhat see the bruised knot above and between your eyes, the scratches above, below and to the right your right eye and on the left side of your nose. Poor thing!

You have learned how to throw a ball, which quickly became a fun game for you. You would throw the ball to me (or wherever it happened to go), and I would roll it back to you. I praised you for your new trick, but then for a little while, you began to throw other toys as well. Oops! Thankfully you never threw out of anger or anything, and I'm glad that it didn't last long and now you've stopped throwing other toys.

You enjoy putting things inside of other things now; for example, you love putting your duckie into a small plastic cup or putting your bottle into a cup holder.

This month your love for talking on the phone developed. You've always been fascinated by them and wanted to put them in your mouth, but now you'll pretend anything is a phone (usually a remote control) and put it up to your right ear to talk on it. You'll even tilt your head to the right when you do it.

You are truly a happy baby and people still always comment on it, but I've gotten very small glimpses of temper tantrums. Sometimes if I take something from you that you shouldn't have, you'll cry pretty loudly for a few seconds.

You LOVE taking baths as well as swimming.

You rode your first horsey this month. Well, actually, it was a toy horse in the church nursery, but you loved it, which I think is only fitting seeing as how you're a true cowboy now. :)

Your favorite toys this month are balls and your yellow duckie.

You now can say "mama", "dada" and "ba" (ball) and mean what you're saying. At this point, you think that balloons are balls, so for your birthday, you woke up to 12 inflated blue balloons in the living room. You were so excited and immediately started in with, "ba ba ba ba".

You have 5 teeth--3 on top and 2 on bottom.

My favorite thing that you started doing this month was blowing kisses. Oh my goodness, how this melts my heart! We'll tell you to blow someone kisses and you'll open your hand and put it up to your mouth. Instead of moving your hand away from your mouth, you'll just keep it there. Too cute! We wanted to encourage you to keep blowing kisses, so we would say, "Yea!" and clap for you after you did it. Now every time you blow a kiss, you'll start clapping for yourself. You'll also sometimes give me kisses on the mouth when I ask for them.

And now, a final picture that melts my heart. This is so rare now that you're such a big boy, but you're definitely still our baby!

Oh, sweet little boy, I can't believe you're ours! How the Lord ever chose us to be your parents is beyond me. We are so grateful for you and for the joy that you have brought into our lives. We prayed for you for so long before you came, before you were even conceived, and yet never in our wildest dreams could we have imagined a more perfect child. Years of prayer, 9 months of pregnancy, 15 hours 43 minutes of labor, 1 hour of pushing, and within the blink of an eye, you were here and our lives were forever changed. An 8lb 10 oz, 21" long bundle of pure joy. We love you more than words could ever express, precious Caleb, and we pray that one day you will feel the same way about your Creator. May a life of pursuing and seeking to glorify Jesus Christ be your ultimate goal and desire!

Happy birthday, sweet Caleb!

Overnight Diapers

Though we've only used them one night, these Huggies diapers are life changing! Our poor son has been waking up each morning absolutely drenched because he had leaked out of his diaper. I'm not talking a little leakage--it's been a ton. Yesterday morning, I went in to get him and found that he was completely wet down his front side. I'm talking all the way from his neck to his wrists and ankles on both sides. Poor guy! Even his sheet and mattress pad were soaked. Caleb hasn't been terribly upset about it, but he's sopping wet and cold as a result.

We tried different brands of diapers and even tried going up a size at night. Nothing has helped until these Huggies Overnight Diapers. We went up a size in these for night, and sweet Caleb woke this morning completely dry. YEA!!! Thank you, Lord, for this brilliant invention!

A Sweet Reminder

Forgive my blogging hiatus. Over the last month, we had Ryan's installation service as Senior Pastor, Caleb's first birthday and birthday party and moved into our new rent house. I have more updates to write (including Caleb's one year update), but for now, I'm just writing about a sweet reminder that I was recently given.

Moving to Graham, Texas was not on our radar. Really moving at all wasn't on our radar, and this obviously isn't a good time to try and sell a home, especially in Louisville, but this is what God clearly desires for our life, and He's not even surprised by the housing market. We're so thankful to be here and have been richly blessed by the love of the people at Graham Bible Church, but there have been some obstacles we've been working to overcome. Lots of little things including getting a local bank account, which can't be done until we get our Texas drivers licenses, which can't be done until we get our car registered here, which can't be done until we get our car inspected here, which can't be done without our car title. Unfortunately, in the mass of boxes and papers, I can't find our car title. I know it's here, but in an effort to save time, I've simply ordered another copy. All this to say, even small things have become a bit of an ordeal.

Selling our home is tough as well. The market has changed drastically since we bought our home 3 years ago, and there's no doubt we're going to lose money selling it, but we're really hoping to minimize that loss as much as possible. Well, there's currently a contract on our house--PRAISE THE LORD--but the morning after our house was inspected, I woke up to an email of repair demands from the buyers. Apparently, the buyers won't budge on what repairs are done and our realtor feels that most of the requests would be common to most buyers. Unfortunately, these repairs are likely to cost several thousand dollars.

Let me pause here to say I'm sorry for all the details, but I'm trying to explain my mindset the day I received this sweet reminder.

Anyway, the money that it will cost to do the home repairs plus the money we have to bring to closing plus the money we're already losing can be somewhat overwhelming. I know our God is good and will provide for our needs, but sometimes it just seems so hard and daunting. I know this probably points to a lack of trust and peace in Him in this area, and this is something I'm working on.

So, I woke up to that repair demand email, then discovered through another email that an order I had placed for pajamas for Caleb was cancelled. Our washing machine broke during the move, so doing laundry has been tricky and somewhat rare, not to mention that Caleb only has 3 pajamas that fit him. (The rest are size 6 months, so there's no way they'd work.) Caleb seems to get a little chilly at night, so we've been having him sleep in anything warm we can find, which has included 18-24 month long sleeve shirts, cargo pants, etc. This kid needs some pajamas, and I was really anticipating this order I had placed 2 weeks earlier to arrive soon. But it didn't because the order was cancelled.

I'm not a crier. At least I don't really think I am--maybe Ryan would say differently, but on that particular day, I remember crying 5 different times. I don't know why exactly I was so emotional, but it was a rough day.

A precious friend here in Graham called me randomly that day to say she was thinking about me and we got to talking about my day, and I mentioned the things that had been frustrating. Well, a little bit later, this same friend calls and asks if she can bring something by. She arrives with a little gift bag containing a pair of brand new pajamas for Caleb. Her son is a little more than a month older than Caleb and had recently received two of the exact same pajamas. This sweet girl had planned on exchanging the second pair, but wanted Caleb to have something to wear that night so gave them to him instead. I was so incredibly touched by her care and thoughtfulness.

I was thinking later that night about those pajamas and was reminded that God cares about our every concern, and He will provide for ALL of our needs. Thank you, Lord, for this sweet reminder!

I Can't Believe It!

One year ago today, little one, we were holding you in our arms for the first time! I can't believe it's already been a year, and yet, it seems somewhat difficult to remember what life was like before you came.

Today when we were at Walmart, you were sitting in the cart and a sweet old lady walked by. "Aren't you precious!?" she said. "That sweet smile of yours would make anybody feel better." That's certainly how I feel, and I praise him for your joyful spirit.

I'll write a more in-depth post later, as well as a recap of your first birthday party, but for now know that we celebrate your life and thank God for the sweet gift that you are.

Jim Hamilton

Jim Hamilton has played a very significant role in our lives. Ryan first met him with the intention of getting counsel on evaluating a call to ministry. Jim later served as one of Ryan's professors at the Houston campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Then when Ryan and I were planning to leave Houston, it was Jim who encouraged Ryan to consider finishing his seminary studies at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. God sovereignly worked to land the Hamiltons and the Bishops at Kenwood Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, where Jim and Ryan served as elders together.

Jim preached at Ryan's ordination service at Kenwood and will soon be preaching at Ryan's installation service here at Graham Bible Church. You can click here to read a blog post that Jim recently wrote about Ryan and his farewell to the congregation at Kenwood.

Thank you, Hamilton family, for the many ways that you have impacted our lives and for the ways in which God has used y'all to better equip us for a life of ministry. We love y'all!

21!

The other night, Ryan and I were outside, and I decided to count how many "shooting stars" I saw. In just 2 hours, I saw 21 of them, and Ryan saw many more. Isn't that amazing!?

What a blessing to live in a small town, and what a blessing to be able to more regularly experience this aspect of God's creation. There's no way we would have seen nearly this many near the big city lights. In fact, during the 12 years Ryan and I knew each other before moving to Graham, we had only seen 1 "shooting star".

Thank you, God, for reminding me just how small I am and just how big you are.

11 Months!

Oh, little Caleb, this was another big month for you. You're learning so much and jabbering like crazy. It is so fun to see more and more that you are all boy--you're so active and are ready to climb over anything and everything. You even travelled across the country and went from living in Kentucky to Texas.

I was extremely thankful that you handled driving across the country in a big Penske truck so well. The only time you fussed was as we pulled into Nashville, but that was understandable because it was 4.5 hours past time for you to eat! Other than that, you did great and managed to either sleep or keep yourself entertained. You also learned to hold a bottle by yourself during that trip, which was great timing.

Everyone always comments on what a happy boy you are and they also ask if you ever cry. Well, I know you're not perfect by any means, but I am very thankful for your joyful spirit.

I began the process of weaning you this month, and for the most part, you've handled it like a champ. I had some frozen milk that we gave you for awhile, but when that first formula bottle came at the end of this month, I was devastated to find out that you hated it. You wouldn't take it for anything, and you kept scrunching up your face in disgust every time I tried to give it to you. Praise the Lord for a friend who recommended putting some of a baby yogurt smoothie in your formula bottle. You loved it! It was such a relief, and again, I'm so thankful for this simple but revolutionary tip. We have since weaned you of the yogurt smoothie stuff, and you now like straight formula.

You're eating lots of table food and, thankfully, will eat pretty much anything. The only thing you haven't seemed too enthused about thus far is lettuce. You love everything from spaghetti to tomatoes to black olives to sugar snap peas to cantaloupe, and the list goes on and on.

You still flap your arms when you get excited, and you will often get up on your knees and raise your arms straight above your head. You'll hold them there for a few seconds and then quickly bring them back down.

You went through a phase of saying, "Mamamama". We thought it was your first word because it seemed like you knew that was me, but you haven't said it as much, so I'm not sure now.

Sometimes you'll turn your tongue over in your mouth--like you're trying to put the right side of your tongue at the roof of your mouth and the left side at the bottom of it.

This month you got to go swimming for the first time. You didn't know what to think at first and clung to me as the cool water started rising up your legs, but you came to love it. You especially enjoyed splashing the water as you sat on a shallow step. It's so much fun watching you experience new things.

We discovered that you love to swing, though going down a slide doesn't seem to be as much fun for you. You certainly don't mind it, but you don't seem to enjoy it as much.

You also experienced your first baths in a real bath tub this month. You don't seem to be a huge fan because it's so slippery when you try and stand up. (Thankfully, I've been right there to catch you each time you've slipped.) It's so much easier to keep you contained in your baby bath tub, so it's possible that we might go back to that for a bit longer once we get it out of storage and get settled into our new home.

Your top 2 teeth came in this month, and they make you look so much more grown up!

You continue to prove to be a little monkey and climb on top of anything you can--dishwasher doors, boxes, coffee tables, chairs and stairs. Pretty much anything that is either low enough for you to get on or anything that has something else nearby that you can stand on momentarily to raise you up so you can climb on something taller. You have had virtually no experience with stairs prior to this month, but I learned right away that you can crawl up an entire flight of stairs very quickly. (Again, thankfully I was right behind you in case you fell.)

I was sitting at a kitchen table while you crawled around at my feet one day. Before I knew it, you were grunting. I looked down to see that you had managed to crawl up onto a kitchen chair that was pushed under the table. You were completely hunched over and once you realized you couldn't sit up straight, you started grunting.

You've begun to stand for a few seconds without holding onto anything. So far, though, you've only done it by letting go of something when you're already standing, as opposed to standing up from a seated position.

You're still not a big fan of grass. You'll tolerate it, but it's obvious that you're uncomfortable when sitting in it.

Your favorite toy this month is a round squishy ball with holes in it for you to grab onto. You LOVE this thing and have held it pretty much constantly since you discovered it.

We're so thankful for you, sweet Caleb. I can't believe it's almost been a year since we first met you. The time has flown by and each day with you keeps getting sweeter and sweeter. We love you, little one!!

Two More!

I've been awful at blogging, but I guess moving can do that to you. I hope to be better soon, but for now, just an update that our little man got 2 more teeth this week. His top right one came in on 7-27 and his top left one on 7-30. His bottom teeth came in within a few days of each other too. It's funny to me that he's gone months before getting new teeth and then gets them in pairs.

On the day his first top tooth came in, we were walking through Target and I heard an awful sound coming from his mouth. I reached into his mouth trying to figure out what he had put in there, only to realize that my sweet son had already figured out how to grind his teeth. I absolutely hate that sound, but thankfully, he hasn't done it since that one time.

Blessed

So the last few weeks have been a complete whirlwind, but I suppose I should start from the beginning.

In March, Ryan received an email from Garrett, the pastor of Graham Bible Church in Graham, Texas asking if Ryan would be interested in serving as the senior pastor of the church when Garrett left. Garrett and his family are going to DC to serve at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, where Ryan did his internship last year. Garrett got Ryan's information through some contacts at CHBC.

Anyway, over the last few months, Ryan filled out a doctrinal questionnaire, did a couple phone interviews, and took 2 trips to Texas for Ryan to preach at the church and for us to get to know the congregation a little bit.

We are so excited that the Lord chose to bring us to Graham Bible Church where Ryan is now serving.

There were only a few weeks from the time we found out God had called us to Graham to the time we moved, so it was a busy time. I finished up work, we packed like crazy and attempted to get our house ready to sell.

It was amazing to see how well cared for we were during those weeks.

We had several friends come over and help us pack--some of those friends even came over multiple times. We had people bring us dinner. We had friends help with yard work. We had a friend who took Caleb to the zoo on the day we moved so we could have one fewer distraction. We had sweet friends who came over and cleaned our house for us (to get it ready to sell) after we left. I am amazed at just how well our Louisville family loved us.

We had some difficulties with loading our truck and then when we were loaded up and about to head out of Louisville, the Check Engine light had come on in the truck. So, we headed back to the Penske location to get it checked. There was indeed a problem, so they ended up getting us a different truck and got movers to transfer all of our stuff to the new truck. This whole ordeal took 2-3 hours, and another sweet friend very thoughtfully brought us dinner since we had no way to leave.

Our goal had been to leave town around 1pm, but we didn't get out until 8:30. Thankfully, we only planned on driving to Nashville that night, so we could stay with Ryan's brother and his family. They cared for us so well while we were there, and my sister-in-law even bathed Caleb for me so I could finish getting things together.

The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful, and we arrived safely in Graham a couple days later. We were warmly greeted by a bunch of church members who quickly unloaded our stuff and put everything into a storage shed.

I type all of this out, not to complain or to say look what we had to go through, but to show that in every situation, God provided for all of our needs, and he continues to do so through the loving people at Graham Bible Church. We are so very thankful to be here and are excited about what God has in store for us. Thank you, Lord, for your loving care and provision for us!

10 Months!

Sweet Caleb, what a joy you are! Your daddy and I still look at you in awe of the precious gift that you are. We can't believe that God has chosen us to be your parents!

During this month, you went on your second trip to Texas. You played during the first flight and then slept on the way back. You did such a good job adjusting to all your new environments and the changes in your schedule--we were so proud of you!

You also made your first trip to the zoo this month. We had such a good time with our friends, Mariah, Madeline and Rivers! Though you're certainly not old enough to fully appreciate the zoo, you did seem to like watching the monkeys and gorillas swing around.

We went to a friend's birthday party this month, and you got to sit in a private plane, which was pretty neat.

You're still really cuddly when you're tired. However, you're such an active little boy that you typically want to be playing if we're sitting on the ground.

Though you had waved some before now, you're now waving much more consistently.

When we lay you down to go to sleep, you rub your face back and forth on the bed a couple times as you get settled and then usually tuck your hands under your tummy. When I walk out of your bedroom, you'll often pick your head up slightly to watch me wave goodnight to you and then you'll often wave back.

You also learned to clap this month, and you love doing it. You get a big smile on your face any time you do it, and you look up at us, almost as if you're waiting for us to say, "Yea!!" and clap with you.

You have learned how to crawl onto and sit on the dishwasher door when it's open, and one day, in the midst of our packing, I looked over and found you standing on top of one of the smaller packed boxes. What a monkey you are!!

Speaking of packing, you like to pull things out of any boxes that we've packed but haven't yet taped. Needless to say, our most productive pack times are while you're sleeping. :)

A few times I've seen you let go of whatever you're holding onto while you're standing, but it doesn't take long before you either grab back on or sit down. You walk around fairly well with us holding your hands. It seems like walking is in your near future, but I sure wouldn't mind if you held off on it a bit longer. :)

Your tongue is often sticking out of your mouth, though it seems like you may be doing that less and less.

Thankfully, you seem to be learning what "No" means. So far you seem to be obeying well with a simple "No," but I know that won't always be the case.

You haven't been saying deh deh or mah mah for a little while, but you're always talking. I love your little voice, and I wish I knew what you were thinking and trying to say.

Some of your favorite toys are the rings that are used to hang toys from your tummy time mat. You love crawling around the house with these in your mouth. You're funny in that you often are more entertained by things that aren't toys, such as remote controls and water bottles, than by your actual toys.





I love how when you get excited you will either flap your arms or slap your hands on the table.

You've always seemed to enjoy a good beat, but you seem to be dancing more and more. (You're dancing consists of a huge smile and bouncing up and down.) What a cutie you are!

We have completely eliminated your third nap. For the last few months, you had only been taking that nap a few times a week, depending on our schedule that day, but it's gone now.

You love food and seem to enjoy tasting different things. So far, we haven't found anything you won't eat, which I hope continues to be the case.

Little Caleb, we love you, and we're so proud of you! It's so fun watching you grow, and we pray that as you grow that you would grow in knowledge and love for Jesus as well.

Undeserving

My goodness! I am overcome right now with love and humility. God has blessed me so richly with a husband who strives daily to love me as Christ has loved the church and with a son who couldn't be any happier or sweeter. These boys fill my heart with so much love and joy! Thank you, Lord, for these precious gifts that I know I don't deserve. Please help me to treasure them and never take them for granted.

9 Months!

This post is late again, but happy 9 month birthday, sweet Caleb!

At your 9 month checkup, your stats were:
Height: 28.5in (50th percentile)
Weight: 19lbs 1oz (25th percentile)
Head Circumference: 45.5cm (50th percentile)

At this point, you're eating both Stages 2 and 3 foods. Vegetables seem to be your favorite right now, though you'll certainly eat fruits too. You're eating more and more table food. This month you tried oranges for the first time, and your reaction was similar to the one you had the first time you ate a lime. You made an adorable sour face but then seemed to love eating it. You weren't too crazy about pieces of bread or your Puffs at first but have grown to love them both. You've also enjoyed corn kernels, macaroni and cheese, Goldfish, bits of crackers and rice cakes, as well as many other things.

You're learning how to feed yourself, but sometimes it takes you using both hands to make sure the piece of food makes it into your mouth and in your lap.

When I'm feeding you, you love to play with things as you eat. It helps keep you eating, as opposed to looking and moving all around, so I have a stack of stuff that I hand you as you eat, including my cell phone, chapstick, thermometer, remote control and a Praise Baby DVD case.

You LOVE ice water, just like your mommy. You get so excited when you see a glass of it or when you get some in your sippy cup. I'm amazed at how well you drink out of a glass (with us holding it, of course), and you have even figured out how to drink out of our CamelBak thermoses (you have to bite down on the mouthpiece and suck at the same time). You're a little bit of an addict when we let you drink water from our cups.

You are now pulling up and cruising (walking while holding onto toys and furniture) really well, though you do have a lot more bruises from falling down.

I love how when you hear one of us come in the door, you get excited and start laughing and quickly crawling to the door to greet us.













You love to play, and your favorite toy this month has been an empty water bottle. You also like your stackable rings, and as always, everything that can go in your mouth does.

You talk so much and are good at imitating the sounds we make (deh deh, la la, etc.) You're also saying ma ma more, which I'm loving! You definitely seem to know who your "deh deh", "Daddy", "ma ma" and "Mommy" are, but I don't think you are meaning us when you say it.

You often will "get shy" with people. If I'm holding you and someone starts talking to you or making you smile, sometimes you'll turn away and bury your head in my shoulder, only to look back at that person with a big grin a few seconds later.

When you get around other animals you don't know, you'll start making this grunting sound. It's like you get excited and want to show us what you've discovered.

You have been so much more cuddly this month. You were cuddly when you were younger, but it seems like you were too busy being active the last couple of months. Now, when you're tired, you'll lay your head on my left shoulder facing away from me. You curl your right arm around my left arm and put your left arm down straight by your side. I love it! You've even fallen asleep like this a few times.

The day before your 9 month birthday, you tried standing up on your own in the bathtub. You often will stand, holding onto the side of the tub, but on that day, you stood up.

You truly are our little monkey! This month you climbed onto and sat on a case of water bottles and also onto the bottom shelf of a changing table at church. You've also attempted to get up on the dishwasher door, but thankfully, you haven't quite conquered that one yet.

You had your first airplane ride and trip to Texas this month, and you handled it all like a champ. You ate well on takeoff and then slept for most of the flights.

We love you, little Caleb. You are such a joy and are constantly bringing a smile to our faces. You truly are a happy, happy boy. You're always on the go, and I love how little it takes to entertain you. Thank you for making it so easy to love and care for you, and thank you for being our son!

8 Months!

Oh my goodness, little boy! This past month was such a big one for you! Just a couple days after you turned 7 months, you started crawling. I can’t believe how quickly you got the hang of it. Sometimes you would also get up in a bear crawl stance.

This month you also learned to pull up. It was quite a surprise when I peaked in your bedroom during nap time and saw you standing for the first time. We are now at the lowest setting for your crib mattress.

You certainly have a tendency to go for the few things in the room that you’re not supposed to have. You’re pretty amused by doorstops, and your latest fascination is a silver ring that’s on your daddy’s work bag.

Your favorite toys these days are your jumperoo and your Learning Table. I’m so thankful you still enjoy your jumperoo because you spend some good time in it in the mornings while your daddy and I get everything ready for the day. You LOVE your table and still laugh and squeal constantly while playing with it. You don’t have as much interest in the smaller toys right now because you seem to want to be more active.

You learned to say bah bah and later muh muh by putting your upper lip down over your lower lip. You can also say la la la now, which resulted from you sticking your tongue out to feel your teeth. You say it with your tongue sticking way out and a huge grin on your face. I can’t even begin to list all the noises you make now, but my favorite is when you squeal out of delight.

You now have your bottom two teeth, which came in within 5 days of one another. Thankfully, you haven’t really seem phased by teething.

This month, you tried squash, bananas, guacamole, limes (which you love), mashed potatoes (which you didn’t care for), apples, pears, peaches and prunes.

It’s so fun to watch you interact with your friends at church. You and your buddy, Rivers, seem to really enjoy playing together in the nursery.

We took a trip to Cincinnati and your grandma also came to visit this month.

This month was a whirlwind, filled with lots and lots of milestones. We love you so much, little one, and we're so thankful for the joy you bring to our lives!